General Guidelines

Contestants are responsible for arranging and bringing their own model.

Contestants must also bring all tools, products, and equipment required to complete the nail work they intend to perform.

CONVEX - Exterior bevel is completely symmetric. No high or low point on the outer surface. Nail must be evenly balanced & the free edge straight forward .

CONCAVE - Interior bevel or tunnel is completely symmetric. No shallow or unevenness throughout the entire free edge. Each side of nail has same depth of thickness.

APEX / ARCH - High point of apex or arch must be consistently placed on each nail. Must not be too forward or back.

SIDE or GROOVE WALLS - Free edge must extend straight out from the lateral fold. It must not flare or taper in. Must be uniform on each side. No notches or ridges on sidewalls. Consideration will be given for non-square nails.

LATERAL SIDE EXTENSION - From the nails profile the free edge must extend straight out from the natural nails lateral fold. It must not drop down or taper up. Uniform on each both sides.

FREE EDGE THICKNESS - The nails must be consistently thin throughout the entire nails free edge and be uniformly thin on each nail. And no thicker than a noted in category rules.

C-CURVE - C-curve varies for each competition

CUTICLE AREA - no cuts or irritation around skin. No product ledge or missing product. The product must be flush with the natural nail.

UNDER SIDE - No visible dust, debris, water, glue, oil or polish. No excess product or oil, when allowed.

SMILE LINE - Consistent shape on all exposed nails. Evenly applied so tips match, no shadows, clean line and evenly aligned. The deeper the smile line, the higher the degree of difficulty and higher points are awarded.

TIP SELECTION / FORM FIT - Tip must be sized to fit and cover the groovewalls and extend straight out. No flared or tapered edges. Form wasn’t dropped & no notches in sidewalls – 10

LENGTH - Nail bed is measured cuticle to centre of smile line – smileline to free edge. Followed length instruction and ensure nails match hand to hand from cuticle to free edge when applicable.

PRODUCT CONTROL - Even application of product. No shadows, air bubbles and pits. Sharp division of colour at smile line for French.

SURFACE SMOOTHNESS - No file lines of demarcations. Finished product is smooth. No bumps. No dips. No rough or dull spots.

HIGH SHINE FINISH - Unpolished hand should have a high gloss shine like a glass finish. If comp allows gel sealer, it must be shiny, smooth and evenly covered.

POLISH - Applied close and consistent at cuticle. No streaking in polish. Sides and tip of edge covered. No polish on skin or backside of nail

NAIL SHAPE - The shape of the nails look consistent and uniform. The top of the free edge must not be uneven and the free edge is straight from the nail plate.

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY - Evaluate the complexity of the design.

CREATIVITY - Are you seeing creative use of embellishments, stripers, paint, colour powders or glitters? Is there creative collaboration of art being used?

FINISH WORK - There should not be any scratches in the paint or product application. The cuticle is clean and the entire nail is capped in sealer with a high gloss.

OVERALL WORK - The shape and appearance of the nail is presentable and the skin free of paint, polish and glue. The shape of the nail looks consistent.

COMPOSITION - The design should flow from each nail so the eye is drawn from nail to nail. The nails individually represent the complete design.

ORIGINALITY - The theme or design should be something you’ve not seen before or done in a manner that is new, creative and unusual use of art media

BALANCE - The design should not be too busy or too sparse. The art should look evenly balanced on each nail and from nail to nail

USE OF COLOUR - Was colour theory applied, do the colours chosen complement the design?

CONTINUITY OF THEME - Design should be carried through in some manner on each nail. The designs should look comfortable next to each other and represent the theme.

CLARITY OF DESIGN - Is the design apparent and identifiable? How well does the design represent the theme?

OVERALL WORKMANSHIP - The nail art that is used was done well and with skill